In August 2012, he produced a documentary for Channel 4 entitled Islam: The Untold Story,[8] which provoked what Holland described as "a firestorm of death threats" against him.[9] Contributors included Professor Patricia Crone. The programme generated a strongly negative response from some British Muslims, with more than 1,000 complaints received by Ofcom and Channel 4.[10][11] A planned screening of Islam: The Untold Story before an audience of historians was cancelled, due to security concerns raised from threats received by Holland as a result of the documentary.[12][13]

In March 2015, Holland published a piece entitled "We must not deny the religious roots of Islamic State" in the New Statesman. It argued that the jihadis of ISIS call themselves Islamic and people like Mehdi Hasan ought not to deny it, as he had in the previous week's issue. Holland wrote that "It is not merely coincidence that ISIS currently boasts a caliph, imposes quranically mandated taxes, topples idols, chops the hands off thieves, stones adulterers, executes homosexuals and carries a flag that bears the Muslim declaration of faith."[15]

In May 2015, Holland gave the inaugural Christopher Hitchens Lecture at the Hay Festival, in which he addressed the subject of 'De-Radicalising Muhammad'. In an interview he gave to Quadrapheme the following month he explained that he wanted the lecture to promote discussion of the way Muhammad's life is interpreted, arguing that his "mythos lies at the core of what is pernicious in the goings-on of Islamic State and other radicals[16]". In the same interview he provided an insight into his own views, asserting that "Liberalism is essentially Christianity-lite, and you can include atheism and secularism in that bracket too—these are basically Christian heresies. The ethics involved are really New Testament ones." and adding later, when asked about resistance to his views on Islam, that "when I write about Islam my anxiety, and the reason I always pull my punches, isn’t that I’m afraid I’ll be killed, it’s that I’m afraid to be drummed out of the liberal club."

Personal life

Holland lives in London with his wife and two daughters. He is a keen cricket fan and member of the Authors XI cricket team.[18] He has written about receiving batting training from England captain Alastair Cook, and once hit a six. He has since claimed that he will write a history book about using an extended piece of wood to hit balls.[19]

Books

Series

The Vampyre: Being the True Pilgrimage of George Gordon, Sixth Lord Byron (1995), ISBN 0-316-91227-1 (published in the US as Lord of the Dead)

Supping with Panthers (1996), ISBN 0-316-87622-4 (published in the US as Slave of My Thirst)